Heat-treating apparatus.



J. J. LIGHTER. HEAT TEEATIIIG APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7.1914.

l l 1 2,074. Patented Sept 29, 1914.

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Speication of'ltlettersratent.

Patented sept. 29, 1914.

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To all whom 'it may concern.' v Be it known that I, JOHN J. L ICHTER, a citizen of the United States, reslding atSt.

Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain-new' and useful Improvement in Heat-Treating Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, 'such as will enable others skilled in the art' to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This .invention relates to apparatus used in the heut treatment of metals and other' substances.

One object of my invention is to provide a heat treating-apparatus that comprises a furnace of novel design and also a dipping `tank which is arranged in such a position with relation to the furnace that' the material being treated can be removed from the furnace chamber and quenched in the'bath in the dipping tank, without liability of breaking the sealing ledges on the side walls of the furnace chamber, or exposing the material to the atmosphere, and thus causing 'it to cool off4 and oxidize before it isl quenched.

Another'l object is toprovide an apparatus of the cha'r cter described, in which theroof of the furn ce is so designed that it does not exert side thrusts on the side walls of the furnace, and furthermore, insures a uniform and even distribution of heat across the entire width of the furnace chamber. l

-Another object is to provide a heat-treat- Y ing furnace, in which the flues for the escape of the waste gases are arranged in such a manner that an even distribution of heat is insured throughout the entire length of the furnace chamber, and still another object is .to provide an apparatus of the character described, in which the means for immersing the material in the quench-ingv bath consists of a cradle that travels on trackssupported by the side walls of the dipping tank' and arranged vertically or in an inclined position at practically any angle from A' Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical,ltransverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l.'

,Referring to the drawings whichV illustrate the preferred form of my invention, .A designates a heating furnace provided at; one `or both ends with doors 1, of any suitable type, and having fire pits 2 arranged at one side ofthe furnace chamber 3 so that the fire gases will How transversely across the furnace chamber and escape through waste flues 4 whose lower ends comm'umcate with a horizontally disposed flue 5 that leads to a stack 6, as shown in Figs.

2 and 3. The fines 4 for the waste gases preferably Vextend throughout the entire i ength of the furnace, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the heat will be distributed uniformly and evenly throughout the entire length .of the furnace chamber 3, and the roof of the furnace chamber is flat or disposed in a horizontalplane, as shown in ig. 2, so as to cause the heat to bedistributed uniformly and evenly across the entire Width of the furnace chamber. I prefer to form said roof in such a manner that it will not 'exert side thrusts on the side walls 7 of the furnace, and in the embodiment of my invention herein shown said roof is composed of tiles 8 that are carried' by I-beams or other suitable supports 9 that extend longitudinally of the furnace, and which are supported or carried by I-beams or supports '10 that extend transversely of the furnace and rest upon the upper edges of the side walls 7.

The material or articles to be treated'are/ placed upon a truck B, which is thereafter run into the furnace A, said truck being providedwith a refractory top surface or floor 11, that forms the bottom of the furnace chamber 3. The longitudinal edge portions of the Hoor or platform of the truck B project laterally underneath horizontally disposed ledges 12 on the side walls'of the furnace chamber, and the end 'portions of said platform project'under the doors of the furnace. After the truck has been arranged in operative position in the furnace, sand or some other suitable material is .packed between the ledges 12 and the refractory top surface 11 of the truck and in the joints at the lower edges of the door, so as to seal the furnace chamber.

A dipping tank C, that contains a quenching bath 13, is located underneath the furnace and means are provided for lowering the truck B with the material or articles thereon directly into said quenching bath after said material or articles have been heated to a. predetermined temperature in the furnace A, thus eliminating the possidownwardly away from the sealin bility of the articles cooling off or oxidizing before they are quenched, and also eliminating the possibility of breaking the sealing ledges on the side walls of the furnace, as might occur if the. truck Was withdrawn from the furnace chamber horizontally or moved longitudinally of the sealing ledges.

It is immaterial so far as my broad idea is concerned, what particular means is employed for lowering the truck B into the quenching bath, but I prefer to provide the dipping tank with a cradle D that travels in an` inclined plane on tracks 14 which are preferably supported by ledges 15 on the side `Walls4 of the dipping tank, as shown in Fig. 2said tracks being arranged at any desired angle, from a small tangle to the horizontal, to practically a vertical line or 90. The cradle D is so designed that the top portion of same is horizontal, and it -is provided with tracks 16 for the truck B that aline with the tracks 17 on which the truck B rests While it is being loaded.k .The dip ing tank is long enough to permit the crad e `to travel far enough to cause the truck B, with its contents, to be completely submerged in the quenching bath and suitable means are provided for pulling the cradle up and down the incline on which it travel`s,'the means herein shown for this purpose consisting of a hydraulic lift 18 whose cable is connected to oneend of the cradle D as shown in Fig. 1.

-One advantage of an apparatus of the construction above described 1s, that the dipping tank that contains the quenching bath is combined with the furnace and isA located in such a position with relation to the furnace that the material being treated can be quenched without exposing it to the atmosphere after it is removed from .the furnace chamber, and Without liability of breaking the sealing ledges on the side Walls of the furnace, this latter feature, of course, being due to the fact that the truck on which the material rests While it is being heated drops ledges when the truckis being removed om the furnace chamber. The roof of the furnace is fiat and disposed in a horizontal plane so that all points of the roof will be the same distance from the floor or bottom of the furnace chamber on which the material being heated rests, consequently, the heat will be distributed uniformly and evenly across the entire Width of the furnace chamber. By suspending the roof from members that rest upon the side walls of the furnace I eliminate side thrusts on the side Walls of the furnace, and by providing waste gas fines 'throughout the entire length of the furnace I obtain a uniform and even distribution of heat throughout the entire length of the furnace chamber.

In addition to the desirable features above mentioned, an apparatus of the character described requires very little power to operate the device which lowers and raises the truck B into and out 'of the quenching bath, owing to the fact that the cradle D travels in an inclinedplane. Having thus described my invention, what l claim is:

1. An apparatus for treating metals and other substances, comprising a heating furnace, a dipping tank located underneath the chamber of the furnace, a truck or carrier Whose edge portions project under sealing ledges on the side walls of the furnace chamber, and means for moving said truck down* ward and in an inclined .plane into said dp ping tank. 2. An apparatus for treating metals and other substances, comprising a heating furnace, a dipping tank arranged under the chamber of the furnace and provided with inclined tracks, a. cradle traveling on said tracks, and a truck or carrier that is adapted to be run onto said cradle so as to form thc bottom of the chamber of said furnace during the operation of heating the substance being treated.

In testimony whereof I hereunto alix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses, this fourth day of May, 1914.

JOHN J. LIcHTER.

Witnesses:

WELLS L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

